"Without Francis, where would I be?" Pacino wondered.

"The Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola participates in a hand and footprint ceremony immortalizing him in the forecourt of TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on April 29, 2016. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Actor Al Pacino and singer Mavis Staples listen to U.S. President Barack Obama during a ceremony for 2016 Kennedy Center honorees in the White House on December 4, 2016, Washington, D.C. Pool photo by Aude Guerrucci/UPI | License Photo

Robert De Niro arrives on the red carpet at the closing night screening of "Goodfellas" during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival at Beacon Theatre in New York City on April 25, 2015. File Photo by Dennis Van Tine/UPI | License Photo

Actors Robert Duvall and James Caan (right) who starred in the first "Godfather" movie appear at a February 10, 2005 promotional event in New York for EA Games which is producing "The Godfather" video game for release in mid-2005. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo

The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II were screened for about 6,000 people at Radio City Music Hall as part of the program. After the movies, the films' stars and director Francis Ford Coppola discussed the classic, gangster saga for about 90 minutes. Filmmaker Taylor Hackford moderated the panel.

The event was timed to the first movie's 45th anniversary. Among those in the audience were Leonardo DiCaprio, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, Peter Fonda, Alessandro Nivola, Whoopi Goldberg, Julian Schnabel, Robert Schwartzman and Sofia Coppola.

Francis Ford Coppola said he knew immediately Pacino would be perfect as Michael Corleone, but he remembered Paramount Pictures wasn't so sure.

"I just saw his face," said Coppola. "Once you see someone in the role, it's very hard to get that out of your head."

"The studio didn't want me after they hired me. I was living on 90th and Broadway at the time. I walked [downtown] to the Village and back. I did it every day, thinking about this role. Just thinking where I could go with it. I came, and started filming it, I was dizzy. I was new to film. We were theater actors, weren't used to film," Pacino recalled, crediting Coppola with giving him his big break. "Without Francis, where would I be?"